Philosophy

Texts of Taoism Chuang Tzu

Introductory Notes

BOOK XI. ZÂI YÛ.

The two characters of the title are taken from the first sentence of the Text, but they
express the subject of the Book more fully than the other titles in this Part do, and
almost entitle it to a place in Part I. It is not easy to translate them, and Mr. Balfour
renders them by 'Leniency towards Faults,' probably construing Zâi as equivalent to our
preposition 'in,' which it often is. But Kwang-dze uses both Zâi and Yû as verbs, or blends
them together, the chief force of the binomial compound being derived from the significance
of the Zâi. Zâi is defined by Zhun (###) which gives the idea of 'preserving' or 'keeping
intact,' and Yû by Khwan (###),'being indulgent' or 'forbearing.' The two characters are
afterwards exchanged for other two, wû wei (###) 'doing nothing,' 'inaction,' a grand
characteristic of the Tâo.

The following summary of the Book is taken from Hsüan Ying's explanations of our author:—'The
two characters Zâi Yû express the subject-matter of the Book, and "governing" points out
the opposite error as the disease into which men are prone to fall. Let men be, and the
tendencies of their nature will be at rest, and there will be no necessity for governing
the world. Try to govern it, and the world will be full of trouble; and men will not be
able to rest in the tendencies of their nature. These are the subjects of the first two
paragraphs.

'In the third paragraph we have the erroneous view of Zhui Khü that by government it was
possible to make men's minds good. He did not know that governing was a disturbing meddling
with the minds of men; and how Lâo-dze set forth the evil of such government, going on
till it be irretrievable. This long paragraph vigorously attacks the injury done by governing.

'In the fourth paragraph, when Hwang-Tî questions Kwang Khäng-dze,
the latter sets aside his inquiry about the government of the world, and tells him about
the government of himself; and in the fifth, when Yün Kiang asks Hung Mung about governing
men, the latter tells him about the nourishing of the heart. These two great paragraphs
set forth clearly the subtlest points in the policy of Let-a-be. Truly it is not an empty
name.

'In the two last paragraphs, Kwang in his own words and way sets forth, now by affirmation,
and now by negation, the meaning of all that precedes.'

This summary of the Book will assist the reader in understanding it. For other remarks
that will be helpful, I must refer him to the notes appended to the Text. The Book is
not easy to understand or to translate; and a remark found in the Kiâ-khing edition of
'the Ten Philosophers,' by Lû Hsiû-fû, who died in 1279, was welcome to me, 'If you cannot
understand one or two sentences of Kwang-dze, it does not matter.'

Book XIPart II Section IV

1. I have heard of letting the world be, and exercising forbearance; I have not heard
of governing the world. Letting be is from the fear that men, (when interfered with),
will carry their nature beyond its normal condition; exercising forbearance is from the
fear that men, (when not so dealt with), will alter the characteristics of their nature.
When all men do not carry their nature beyond its normal condition, nor alter its characteristics,
the good government of the world is secured.

Formerly, Yao's government of the world made men look joyful; but when they have this
joy in their nature, there is a want of its (proper) placidity. The government of the
world by Kieh, (on the contrary), made men look distressed; but when their nature shows
the symptoms of distress, there is a want of its (proper) contentment. The want of placidity
and the want of contentment are contrary to the character (of the nature); and where this
obtains, it is impossible that any man or state should anywhere abide long. Are men exceedingly
joyful?—the Yang or element of expansion in them is too much developed. Are they
exceedingly irritated?—the Yin or opposite element is
too much developed. When those elements thus predominate in men, (it is as if2) the four seasons were not to come (at their proper times), and the harmony
of cold and heat were not to be maintained;—would there not result injury to the
bodies of men? Men's joy and dissatisfaction are made to arise where they ought not to
do so; their movements are all uncertain; they lose the mastery of their thoughts; they
stop short midway, and do not finish what they have begun. In this state of things the
world begins to have lofty aims, and jealous dislikes, ambitious courses, and fierce animosities,
and then we have actions like those of the robber Kih, or of Zang (Shan) and Shih (Zhiu)3. If now the whole world were taken to reward the good it would not suffice,
nor would it be possible with it to punish the bad. Thus the world, great as it is, not
sufficing for rewards and punishments, from the time of the three dynasties downwards,
there has been nothing but bustle and excitement. Always occupied with rewards and punishments,
what leisure have men had to rest in the instincts of the nature with which they are endowed?

2. Moreover, delight in the power of vision leads to excess
in the pursuit of (ornamental) colours; delight in the power of hearing, to excess in
seeking (the pleasures of) sound; delight in benevolence tends to disorder that virtue
(as proper to the nature); delight in righteousness sets the man in opposition to what
is right in reason; delight in (the practice of) ceremonies is helpful to artful forms;
delight in music leads to voluptuous airs; delight in sageness is helpful to ingenious
contrivances; delight in knowledge contributes to fault-finding. If all men were to rest
in the instincts of their nature, to keep or to extinguish these eight delights might
be a matter of indifference; but if they will not rest in those instincts, then those
eight delights begin to be imperfectly and unevenly developed or violently suppressed,
and the world is thrown into disorder. But when men begin to honour them, and to long
for them, how great is the deception practised on the world! And not only, when (a performance
of them) is once over, do they not have done with them, but they prepare themselves (as)
with fasting to describe them, they seem to kneel reverentially when they bring them forward,
and they go through them with the excitements of music and singing; and then what can
be done (to remedy the evil of them)? Therefore the superior man, who feels himself constrained
to engage in the administration of the world will find it his best way to do nothing4. In (that policy of) doing nothing, he can rest in the instincts of the nature
with which he is endowed. Hence he who will administer (the government of) the world
honouring it as he honours his own person, may have that government committed to him,
and he who will administer it loving it as he loves his own person, may have it entrusted
to him5. Therefore, if
the superior man will keep (the faculties lodged in) his five viscera unemployed, and
not display his powers of seeing and hearing, while he is motionless as a representative
of the dead, his dragon-like presence will be seen; while he is profoundly silent, the
thunder (of his words) will resound, while his movements are (unseen) like those of a
spirit, all heavenly influences will follow them; while he is (thus) unconcerned and does
nothing, his genial influence will attract and gather all things round him:—what
leisure has he to do anything more for the government of the world?

3. Zhui Khu6 asked Lao
Tan, saying, 'If you do not govern the world, how can you make men's minds good?' The
reply was, 'Take care how you meddle with and disturb men's minds. The mind, if pushed
about, gets depressed; if helped forward, it gets exalted. Now exalted, now depressed,
here it appears as a prisoner, and there as a wrathful fury. (At one time) it becomes
pliable and soft, yielding to what is hard and strong; (at another), it is sharp as the
sharpest corner, fit to carve or chisel (stone or jade). Now it is hot as a scorching
fire, and anon it is cold as ice. It is so swift that while one is bending down and lifting
up his head, it shall twice have put forth a soothing hand beyond
the four seas. Resting, it is still as a deep abyss; moving, it is like one of the bodies
in the sky; in its resolute haughtiness, it refuses to be bound;—such is the mind
of man7!'

Anciently, Hwang-Ti was the first to meddle with and disturb the mind of man with his
benevolence and righteousness8.
After him, Yao and Shun wore their thighs bare and the hair off the calves of their legs,
in their labours to nourish the bodies of the people. They toiled painfully with all the
powers in their five viscera at the practice of their benevolence and righteousness; they
tasked their blood and breath to make out a code of laws;—and after all they were
unsuccessful. On this Yao sent away Hwan Tau to Khung hill, and (the Chiefs of) the Three
Miao to San-wei, and banished the Minister of Works to the Dark Capital; so unequal had
they been to cope with the world9. Then we are carried on to the kings of the Three (dynasties), when the world
was in a state of great distraction. Of the lowest type of character there were Kieh and
Kih; of a higher type there were Zang (Shan) and Shih (Zhiu). At the same time there arose
the classes of the Literati and the Mohists. Hereupon, complacency
in, and hatred of, one another produced mutual suspicions; the stupid and the wise imposed
on one another; the good and the bad condemned one another; the boastful and the sincere
interchanged their recriminations;—and the world fell into decay. Views as to what
was greatly virtuous did not agree, and the nature with its endowments became as if shrivelled
by fire or carried away by a flood. All were eager for knowledge, and the people were
exhausted with their searchings (after what was good). On this the axe and the saw were
brought into play; guilt was determined as by the plumb-line and death inflicted; the
hammer and gouge did their work. The world fell into great disorder, and presented the
appearance of a jagged mountain ridge. The crime to which all was due was the meddling
with and disturbing men's minds. The effect was that men of ability and worth lay concealed
at the foot of the crags of mount Thai, and princes of ten thousand chariots were anxious
and terrified in their ancestral temples. In the present age those Who have been put to
death in various ways lie thick as if pillowed on each other; those who are wearing the
cangue press on each other (on the roads); those who are suffering the bastinado can see
each other (all over the land). And now the Literati and the Mohists begin to stand, on
tiptoe and with bare arms, among the fettered and manacled crowd! Ah! extreme is their
shamelessness, and their failure to see the disgrace! Strange that we should be slow to
recognise their sageness and wisdom in the bars of the cangue, and their benevolence and
righteousness in the rivets of the fetters and handcuffs! How do we know that
Zang and Shih are not the whizzing arrows of Kieh and Kih10?
Therefore it is said, 'Abolish sageness and cast away knowledge, and the world will be
brought to a state of great order11.'

4. Hwang-Ti had been on the throne for nineteen years12,
and his ordinances were in operation all through the kingdom, when he heard that Kwang
Khang Tzu13 was living
on the summit of Khung-thung14,
and went to see him. 'I have heard,' he said, 'that you, Sir, are well acquainted with
the perfect Tao. I venture to ask you what is the essential thing in it. I wish to take
the subtlest influences of heaven and earth, and assist with them the (growth of the)
five cereals for the (better) nourishment of the people. I also wish to direct the (operation
of the) Yin and Yang, so as to secure the comfort of all living beings. How shall I proceed
to accomplish those objects?' Kwang Khang Tzu replied, 'What you wish to ask about is
the original substance of all things15;
what you wish to have the direction of is that substance as
it was shattered and divided16.
According to your government of the world, the vapours of the clouds, before they were
collected, would descend in rain; the herbs and trees would shed their leaves before they
became yellow; and the light of the sun and moon would hasten to extinction. Your mind
is that of a flatterer with his plausible words;—it is not fit that I should tell
you the perfect Tao.'

Hwang-Ti withdrew, gave up (his government of) the kingdom, built himself a solitary apartment,
spread in it a mat of the white mao grass, dwelt in it unoccupied for three months, and
then went again to seek an interview with (the recluse). Kwang Khang Tzu was then lying
down with his head to the south. Hwang-Ti, with an air of deferential submission, went
forward on his knees, twice bowed low with his face to the ground, and asked him, saying,
'I have heard that you, Sir, are well acquainted with the perfect Tao;—I venture
to ask how I should rule my body, in order that it may continue for a long time.' Kwang
Khang Tzu hastily rose, and said, 'A good question! Come and I will tell you the perfect
Tao. Its essence is (surrounded with) the deepest obscurity; its highest reach is in darkness
and silence. There is nothing to be seen; nothing to be heard. When it holds the spirit
in its arms in stillness, then the bodily form of itself will become correct. You must
be still; you must be pure; not subjecting your body to toil, not agitating your vital
force;—then you may live for long. When your eyes see
nothing, your ears hear nothing, and your mind knows nothing, your spirit will keep your
body, and the body will live long. Watch over what is within you, shut up the avenues
that connect you with what is external;—much knowledge is pernicious. I (will) proceed
with you to the summit of the Grand Brilliance, where we come to the source of the bright
and expanding (element); I will enter with you the gate of the Deepest Obscurity, where
we come to the source of the dark and repressing (element). There heaven and earth have
their controllers; there the Yin and Yang have their Repositories. Watch over and keep
your body, and all things will of themselves give it vigour. I maintain the (original)
unity (of these elements), and dwell in the harmony of them. In this way 1 have cultivated
myself for one thousand and two hundred years, and my bodily form has undergone no decay17.'

Hwang-Ti twice bowed low with his head to the ground, and said, 'In Kwang Khang Tzu we
have an example of what is called Heaven18.'
The other said, 'Come, and I will tell you:—(The perfect Tao) is something inexhaustible,
and yet men all think it has an end; it is something unfathomable, and yet men all think
its extreme limit can be reached. He who attains to my Tao, if he be in a high position,
will be one of the August ones, and in a low position, will be a king. He who fails in
attaining it, in his highest attainment will see the light, but will
descend and be of the Earth. At present all things are produced from the Earth and return
to the Earth. Therefore I will leave you, and enter the gate of the Unending, to enjoy
myself in the fields of the Illimitable. I will blend my light with that of the sun and
moon, and will endure while heaven and earth endure. If men agree with my views, I will
be unconscious of it; if they keep far apart from them, I will be unconscious of it; they
may all die, and I will abide alone19!'

5. Yun Kiang20, rambling
to the east, having been borne along on a gentle breeze21,
suddenly encountered Hung Mung20, who was rambling
about, slapping his buttocks22
and hopping like a bird. Amazed at the sight, Yun Kiang stood reverentially, and said
to the other, 'Venerable Sir, who are you? and why are you doing this?' Hung Mung went
on slapping his buttocks and hopping like a bird, but replied, 'I am enjoying myself.'
Yun Kiang said, 'I wish to ask you a question.' Hung Mung lifted
up his head, looked at the stranger, and said, 'Pooh!' Yun Kiang, however, continued,
'The breath of heaven is out of harmony; the breath of earth is bound up; the six elemental
influences23 do not act
in concord; the four seasons do not observe their proper times. Now I wish to blend together
the essential qualities of those six influences in order to nourish all living things;—how
shall I go about it?' Hung Mung slapped his buttocks, hopped about, and shook his head,
saying, 'I do not know; I do not know!'

Yun Kiang could not pursue his question; but three years afterwards, when (again) rambling
in the east, as he was passing by the wild of Sung, he happened to meet Hung Mung. Delighted
with the rencontre, he hastened to him, and said, 'Have you forgotten me, O Heaven? Have
you forgotten me, O Heaven24?'
At the same time, he bowed twice with his head to the ground, wishing to receive his instructions.
Hung Mung said, 'Wandering listlessly about, I know not what I seek; carried on by a wild
impulse, I know not where I am going. I wander about in the strange manner (which you
have seen), and see that nothing proceeds without method and order25;—what
more should I know?' Yun Kiang replied, 'I also seem carried on by an aimless influence,
and yet the people follow me wherever I go. I cannot help their doing so. But now as they
thus imitate me, I wish to hear a word from you (in the case).'
The other said, 'What disturbs the regular method of Heaven, comes into collision with
the nature of things, prevents the accomplishment of the mysterious (operation of) Heaven,
scatters the herds of animals, makes the birds all sing at night, is calamitous to vegetation,
and disastrous to all insects;—all this is owing, I conceive, to the error of governing
men.' 'What then,' said Yun Kiang, 'shall I do?' 'Ah,' said the other, 'you will only
injure them! I will leave you in my dancing way, and return to my place.' Yun Kiang rejoined,
'It has been a difficult thing to get this meeting with you, O Heaven! I should like to
hear from you a word (more).' Hung Mung said, 'Ah! your mind (needs to be) nourished.
Do you only take the position of doing nothing, and things will of themselves become transformed.
Neglect your body; cast out from you your power of hearing and sight; forget what you
have in common with things; cultivate a grand similarity with the chaos of the plastic
ether; unloose your mind; set your spirit free; be still as if you had no soul. Of all
the multitude of things every one returns to its root. Every one returns to its root,
and does not know (that it is doing so). They all are as in the state of chaos, and during
all their existence they do not leave it26.
If they knew (that they were returning to their root), they
would be (consciously) leaving it. They do not ask its name; they do not seek to spy out
their nature; and thus it is that things come to life of themselves.'

Yun Kiang said, 'Heaven, you have conferred on me (the knowledge of) your operation, and
revealed to me the mystery of it. All my life I had been seeking for it, and now I have
obtained it.' He then bowed twice, with his head to the ground, arose, took his leave,
and walked away.

6. The ordinary men of the world27
all rejoice in men's agreeing with themselves, and dislike men's being different from
themselves. This rejoicing and this dislike arise from their being bent on making themselves
distinguished above all others. But have they who have this object at heart so risen out
above all others? They depend on them to rest quietly (in the position which they desire),
and their knowledge is not equal to the multitude of the arts of all those others28!
When they wish again to administer a state for its ruler, they proceed to employ all the
methods which the kings of the three dynasties considered profitable without seeing the
evils of such a course. This is to make the state depend on the peradventure of their
luck. But how seldom it is that that peradventure does not issue in the ruin of the state!
Not once in ten thousand instances will such men preserve a state. Not once will they
succeed, and in more than ten thousand cases will they ruin
it. Alas that the possessors of territory,—(the rulers of states),—should
not know the danger (of employing such men)! Now the possessors of territory possess the
greatest of (all) things. Possessing the greatest of all things,—(possessing, that
is, men),—they should not try to deal with them as (simply) things. And it is he
who is not a thing (himself) that is therefore able to deal with (all) things as they
severally require. When (a ruler) clearly understands that he who should so deal with
all things is not a thing himself, will he only rule the kingdom? He will go out and in
throughout the universe (at his pleasure); he will roam over the nine regions29,
alone in going, alone in coming. Him we call the sole possessor (of this ability); and
the sole possessor (of this ability) is what is called the noblest of all.

The teaching of (this) great man goes forth as the shadow from the substance, as the echo
responds to the sound. When questioned, he responds, exhausting (from his own stores)
all that is in the (enquirer's) mind, as if front to front with all under heaven. His
resting-place gives forth no sound; his sphere of activity has no restriction of place.
He conducts every one to his proper goal, proceeding to it and bringing him back to it
as by his own movement. His movements have no trace; his going forth and his re-enterings
have no deviation; his course is like that of the sun without beginning (or ending).

If you would praise or discourse about his personality, he is united with the great community
of existences. He belongs to that great community, and has no individual self. Having
no individual self, how should he have anything that can be called his? If you look at
those who have what they call their own, they are the superior men of former times; if
you look at him who has nothing of the kind, he is the friend of heaven and earth.

7. Mean, and yet demanding to be allowed their free course;—such are Things. Low,
and yet requiring to be relied on;—such are the People. Hidden (as to their issues),
and yet requiring to be done;—such are Affairs. Coarse, and yet necessary to be
set forth;—such are Laws. Remote, and yet necessary to have dwelling (in one's self);—such
is Righteousness. Near, and yet necessary to be widely extended;—such is Benevolence.
Restrictive, and yet necessary to be multiplied;—such are Ceremonies. Lodged in
the centre, and yet requiring to be exalted;—such is Virtue. Always One, and yet
requiring to be modified;—such is the Tao. Spirit-like, and yet requiring to be
exercised;—such is Heaven30.

Therefore the sages contemplated Heaven, but did not assist It. They tried to perfect
their virtue, but did not allow it to embarrass them. They proceeded according to the
Tao, but did not lay any plans. They associated benevolence (with all their doings), but
did not rely on it. They pursued righteousness extensively,
but did not try to accumulate it. They responded to ceremonies, but did not conceal (their
opinion as to the troublesomeness of them). They engaged in affairs as they occurred,
and did not decline them. They strove to render their laws uniform, but (feared that confusion)
might arise from them. They relied upon the people, and did not set light by them. They
depended on things as their instruments, and did not discard them31.

They did not think things equal to what they employed them for, but yet they did not see
that they could do without employing them. Those who do not understand Heaven are not
pure in their virtue. Those who do not comprehend the Tao have no course which they can
pursue successfully. Alas for them who do not clearly understand the Tao!

What is it that we call the Tao32?
There is the Tao, or Way of Heaven; and there is the Tao, or Way of Man. Doing nothing
and yet attracting all honour is the Way of Heaven; Doing and being embarrassed thereby
is the Way of Man. It is the Way of Heaven that plays the part of the Lord; it is the
Way of Man that plays the part of the Servant. The Way of Heaven and the Way of Man are
far apart. They should be clearly distinguished from each other.

Footnotes

back2 I supply the 'it
is as if,' after the example of the critic Lu Shu-kih, who here introduces a ### in his
commentary (###). What the text seems to state as a fact is only an illustration. Compare
the concluding paragraphs in all the Sections and Parts of the fourth Book of the Li Ki.

back3 Our moral instincts
protest against Taoism which thus places in the same category such sovereigns as Yao and
Kieh, and such men as the brigand Kih and Zang and Shih.

back7 I must suppose that
the words of Lao Tzu stop here, and that what follows is from Chuang Tzu himself, down
to the end of the paragraph. We cannot have Lao Tzu referring to men later than himself,
and quoting from his own Book.

back8 Hitherto Yao and
Shun have appeared as the first disturbers of the rule of the Tao by their benevolence
and righteousness. Here that innovation is carried further back to Hwang-Ti.

back9 See these parties,
and the way they were dealt with, in the Shu King, Part II, Book I, 3. The punishment
of them is there ascribed to Shun; but Yao was still alive, and Shun was acting as his
viceroy.

back10 Compare this picture
of the times after Yao and Shun with that given by Mencius in III, ii, ch. 9 et al. But
the conclusions arrived at as to the causes and cure of their evils by him and our author
are very different.

back11 A quotation, with
the regular formula, from the Tao Teh King, ch. 19, with some variation of the text.

back13 Another imaginary
personage; apparently, a personification of the Tao. Some say he was Lao Tzu,—in
one of his early states of existence; others that he was 'a True Man,' the teacher of
Hwang-Ti. See Ko Hung's 'Immortals,' I, i.

back14 Equally imaginary
is the mountain Khung-thung. Some critics find a place for it in the province of Ho-nan;
the majority say it is the highest point in the constellation of the Great Bear.

back15 The original ether,
undivided, out of which all things were formed.

back16 The same ether,
now in motion, now at rest, divided into the Yin and Yang.

back17 It seems very clear
here that the earliest Taoism taught that the cultivation of the Tao tended to prolong
and preserve the bodily life.

back18 A remarkable, but
not a singular, instance of Chuang Tzu's application of the name 'Heaven.'

back19 A very difficult
sentence, in interpreting which there are great differences among the critics.

back20 I have preferred
to retain Yun Kiang and Hung Mung as if they were the surnames and names of two personages
here introduced. Mr. Balfour renders them by 'The Spirit of the Clouds,' and 'Mists of
Chaos.' The Spirits of heaven or the sky have still their place in the Sacrificial Canon
of China, as 'the Cloud-Master, the Rain-Master, the Baron of the Winds, and the Thunder
Master.' Hung Mung, again, is a name for 'the Great Ether,' or, as Dr. Medhurst calls
it, 'the Primitive Chaos.'

back21 Literally, 'passing
by a branch of Fu-yao;' but we find fu-yao in Book I, meaning 'a whirlwind.' The term
'branch' has made some critics explain it here as 'the name of a tree,' which is inadmissible.
I have translated according to the view of Lu Shu-kih.

back26 They never show
any will of their own.—On the names Yun Kiang and Hung Mung, Lu Shu-kih makes the
following remarks:—'These were not men, and yet they are introduced here as questioning
and answering each other; showing us that our author frames and employs his surnames and
names to serve his own purpose. Those names and the speeches made by the parties are all
from him. We must believe that he introduces Confucius, Yao, and Shun just in the same
way.'

back29 The nine regions'
generally means the nine provinces into which the Great Yu divided the kingdom. As our
author is here describing the grand Taoist ruler after his fashion in his relation to
the universe, we must give the phrase a wider meaning; but I have not met with any attempt
to define it.

back30 All these sentences
are understood to show that even in the non-action of the Master of the Tao there are
still things he must do.

back31 Antithetic to the
previous sentences, and showing that what such a Master does does not interfere with his
non-action.

back32 This question and
what follows shows clearly enough that, even with Chuang Tzu, the character Tao (###)
retained its proper meaning of the Way or Course.